President elected Donald Trump on Wednesday (a(ar;ucontrasustained by the Republicans).government funding accountsiding with Elon Muskcrusade against the package and raise the odds of a government shutdown.
Trump is against the continuous resolution put forward by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, according to a source familiar with the president-elect's thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
The source confirmed that Trump he told a Fox News host is "totally against" the CR.
Later on Wednesday afternoon, Vice President-elect and Sen. JD VanceR-Ohio, released a joint statement from him and Trump in which they stated that politicians should "pass a simplified bill" that does not give Democrats "everything they want."
"Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025. The only way to do that is with a NO-SPEED temporary funding bill "DEMOCRATS along with an increase in the debt limit," read the statement posted by Vance on X.
"Another thing is a betrayal of our country," read their statement.
Their opposition adds significant weight to Musk's sustained effort throughout the day to tank the 1,547-page bill, which he says is loaded with wasteful pork barrel spending.
If there is no legislation passed by the House and Senate and signed by the president to fund the government after Friday night, the federal government will begin enacting a partial shutdown that could include furloughs .
Musk, whom Trump tapped to lead an advisory group aimed at reducing alleged government waste, did not seem concerned by the prospect of a government shutdown a week before Christmas.
"Shutting down" the government (which doesn't actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill," Musk wrote in one of dozens of X places railing against the CR.
In another placeMusk claimed that "no bills should pass" through Congress until Trump takes office on January 20.
A growing number of Republican lawmakers have sided with Musk, potentially forcing Johnson, R-La., to pass the resolution through a process known as a "suspension" of the traditional House rules process.
The number of accounts under suspension requires the bill to win the support of two thirds of the Chamber, but avoids other procedural steps.
Democrats would need to join Republicans to pass the bill under suspension, and as of Wednesday morning, passage of a CR suspension seemed to be the most likely path to government funding.
Johnson said Wednesday morning that he was texting overnight with Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy about the bill.
"They understand the situation. They said, "It's not directed at you, Mr. Speaker, but I don't like spending." I said, 'Guess what, friends, neither do I,'" Johnson told "Fox & Friends."
But "we have to get this done," Johnson said he told Musk and Ramaswamy, because "by doing that, we're clearing the decks" for Trump to enact his agenda.
The rebellion within his ranks over the CR could threaten Johnson's chances of being re-elected speaker of the House on January 3, when he will need the support of a majority of full room to retrieve the hammer.
Johnson he became a speaker in October 2023, following the GOP-led ouster of former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. While Johnson won his party's nomination to continue as speaker, several House Republicans on Wednesday declined to say whether they would support him for the role when the next GOP-majority Congress meets. thinner.
Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said "we'll see what happens" when asked if he would vote for Johnson as speaker, Punchbowl News reported.
Representative Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said he would vote for someone else, Punchbowl reported.
The short-term funding bill, which would keep the government open until mid-March, was unveiled Tuesday evening, just days before federal funding expires.
The bill includes more than $100 billion in disaster relief funding aimed at addressing devastating hurricanes that tore through states including Florida and North Carolina earlier this year.
President Joe Biden did not weigh specifically on the bill. Wednesday marked the 52nd anniversary of the death of his first wife and daughter in 1972. car crash. Biden spent the day with the family, attending a service in the church and honoring their memory.